Page 18 - Amazing Smiles
P. 18
CHAPTER TWO
There are 32 individual teeth in the adult
dentition. For reference purposes, they are each
assigned a number from one to thirty-two (figure 6).
The number one tooth starts with the last tooth in
the upper right quadrant and continues numeri-
cally forward around the arch to the back of the
upper left quadrant to the number sixteen. The
numbering system continues down to the back of
the lower left quadrant to number seventeen and
continues forward to the last tooth in the lower
right quadrant, number 32. In addition to having
numbers assigned, the teeth are also assigned
individual names. When teeth are entered into a
computer or information about them is sent to an
insurance company, they are referred to by their
numbers. If teeth are missing from the arch, their
spacer on the arch are still refered to by their
numbers. For example, if tooth number 4 is miss-
ing but was going to be replaced by a dental
implant, you would say that the implant was being
placed in area number 4.
figure 6
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